Putin Issues Dire Warning After West's Syria Strike

Newser — Josh Gardner

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has warned that further airstrikes on Syria will lead to soured relations with the West or worse. Per Reuters, Putin told Iran's President Hassan Rouhani that any such action "will inevitably lead to chaos in international relations," the Kremlin said in a statement that called the joint strike "a violation of the UN Charter." The two leaders agreed that the strikes are "adversely impacting prospects for political settlement in Syria," where a bloody conflict has raged for the last seven years.

The US, France, and Britain on Saturday launched 105 missiles targeting purported chemical weapons facilities in Syria following a suspected gas attack in Douma on April 7.

The Western forces blame Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, who is allied with Russia, for the attack. Per the AP, Rouhani said "western countries do not want Syria to reach permanent stability." Both Assad and Russia have denied having been behind any chemical attack.

Assad, meanwhile, was reportedly in high spirits following the airstrike. Per a Russian news report cited by the Washington Post, the president was in a "good mood" on Sunday during a meeting with Russian lawmakers in the capital of Damascus.